Liquid soap dispenser



Feb. 17, 1953 D. T. MOWBRAY LIQUID SOAP DISPENSER Filed Sept. 27, 1948 Patented Feb. 17, 1953 g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIQUID SOAP DISPENSER 7 Douglas T. Mowbray, Waterloo, Iowa Application September 27, 1948, Serial No. 51,353

-' The principal object of my invention is to provide-a liquid soap dispenser that will deposit the desired amount of liquid soap on the hands of the user without thenecessity of touching any of the operating mecahnism with the hands.

=More specifically, the object of this invention isto provide a liquid soap'dispenser that is operated by the foot of-the one desiring thesoap.

A further object of-thisinventionis to-pro-- vide a liquid soap dispenser that is easily and quickly installed for use.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a liquid soap dispenser that-is easily replenished with soap after it has become depleted of liquidsoap ,1. .7

A still further object of this invention is to provide a liquid soap dispenser that is economical in manufacture, durable in use, and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art. I

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement,- and combination of the various parts ofthe device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out-in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhichr Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my device ready for'use. 7 I r Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the container portion of the device and more fully illustrates its construction. 7 l r I i I 7 Fig. 3 is a back view-of-the base portion of the dispenser. A

Fig. 4 is.a longitudinalsectional view of the bellows portion of the device. i v

There have-been many soap dispensers placed on the market. However, thechief fault of most such dispensers is that they must be operated by the hands obtaining the soapsolution. This not only'tends to contaminate the hands, but also the dispenser. Especially, with doctors, it is essential that the obtaining of the soap be accomplished without handling or touching any part of the dispenser. Other objections to present day dispensers are that they quickly become untidy and unsanitary, are difficult to refill, and require a special workman to install. I have overcome such objections as will hereinafter be appreciated.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral ID to designate the base plate portion of my device. This plate may be secured to the wall II by any suitable means, such as by an adhesive, suction means, or screw means. In the drawings I'show a downwardly extending 1 Claim. (Cl. 222'-179) blade l2 'securedto the base It and designed to.

extend between the wall II and a washbasin l3, as shown in Fig. 2. This will secure and support the lower end portion of the device rigidly, and I secure the upper portion of the device to the wall by screws I4. If desired, these screws [4 may extend into a plate which has been previously secured to the wall by an adhesive. The

numeral l5 designates a rearwardly extending shelf portion on the upper face of the plate 10. Formed in the underside of this shelf are screw threads 16 capable of receiving and holding an ordinary standard make glass jar II. By using a standard make glass jar, such jars are easily replaced in case of breakage. In order that the glass jar will be hermetically sealed when screwed onto the shelf portion IS, a gasket i8 is placed between the upper rim of the jar and the shelf.

Obvious1y,'to remove the jar from its hanging" It, or may be formed separately and then rigidly secured to the baseby suitable means. The nu- V meral l9 designates a passageway in the shelf l5, having one end communicating with the forward side of the plate, "and its other end communicating with the inside top of the jar l1. A manual regulating 'valve 29 may be imposed in this passageway. The numeral 2| designates a pipe on the forward side of the plate 10, having one end extending into the passageway I9,-and its other end extending through the lower portion of the plate, as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 22 designates a conduit extending vertically downwardly through the shelf portion l5 and into the bottom portion of the jar 11. The numeral 23 designates a soap dispensing conduit swivelly connected to the upper end of the conduit 22. This conduit 23 extends rearwardly and upwardly a substantial distance and then is curved to extend downwardly, as shown in Fig. 1. By this construction any dripping of the liquid soap after using the device is substantially eliminated. The numeral 24 designates a resilient foot bellows. This bellows normally extends forwardly and upwardly and may have its 3 upper surface provided with corrugations to provide adequate traction with the shoe of the user. The numeral 26 designates a valve in the forward upper end of the bellows. The numeral 21 designates a flexible pipe having one end secured to the lower end of the pipe conduit 2| and its other end communicating with the inside bottom of the bellows, as shown in Fig. 4. To properly weight the bellows and hold it in place on the floor 28 below the base I0, I have provided a heavy metal ring 29. In the molding of the flexible resilient bellows I form on the bottom periphera1 edge of the bellows a curved embracing flange for holding and surrounding the base weight 29. By this construction the member 29 may be removed or replaced, but by the portion 30 of the bellows extending around the bottom of the member 29 the member 29 will be held out of contact with the floor and sufiicient traction will be provided thereby between the floor and the bellows. In order that the pipe 2| will not interfere with the placing of the device on thewall, and will be completely enclosed by the plate ID, the forward end of the plate'm-ay be provided with a central depression.

The practical operation of the device is as follows:

Whenever it is desired to obtain soap solution from the dispensing conduit 23, it is merely necessary for the user'to place one foot on the d bellows and collapse thesame. This action will close the valve 25 and force air through the member 23, thence through the member 2|, thence through the passageway I9 and into the jar above the surface of the liquid soap 3|. This pressure on the surface of the soap will cause it to pass upwardly through the conduit 22, and theninto and through the dispensing conduit 23 onto the hands of the user. Immediately upon release of the pressure on the bellows it will expand, opening the valve 26 and relieving immediately the air pressure on the surface of the soap solution, thereby stopping further delivery of the soap from the dispenser. If more soap is needed, it is merely, necessary to again compress "the bellows with the foot. The amount of sqap solution passing from the dispenser with each depression of the bellows may be easily and quickly'reg'ulated by the valve 20. When the jar 1.1; is depleted of soap solution it is a simple matter to remove the same from its support and either refill'it or screw on to the device another jar having a soap solution therein. From the above it"will be readily seen that the user may obtain soap at any desired time without ever touching the device with his hands, and that due to the length and design of the dispensing conduit 23 soap drippings from the same will not contaminate the base or jar, but will remain clean and sanitary, It will also be appreciated that soap from my device may be obtained with little effort,instantly and in the desired amount.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my liquid soap dispenser without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

In a device of the class described, a jar, a bracket detachably engaging and supporting said jar and forming a sealed' top therefore; said bracket designed to be secured to a supporting surface, a passageway in said bracket having one end communicating with the inside top of said jar and its other end communicating with the outside atmosphere, a foot operated bellows designed to be supported on a suitable surface, a conduit having one end communicating with the inside of said bellows and its other end communicating with the inside of said passageway, a permanently open liquid dispensing conduit having one end communicating with the inside bottom of said jar, its length passing through siad bracket and its free end terminating beyond the vertical plane of said jar and bracket; said liquid dispensing conduit extending upward and away from said bracket for a substantial distance and at an acute angle relative to the horizontal and having a portion less than one-fourth of its length extending vertically at its free end; the free end of said liquid dispensing conduit being cut on the bias whereby a plane defined by three separated points on the free end of said liquid conduit will form an acute angle with a horizontal plane.

DOUGLAS T. MOWBRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 62,039 Kips et al Feb. 12, 1867- 92399 Thomas July 6, 1869 454,614 Garland June 23, 1891 721,134 Alexander Feb. 24, 1903 818,404 Bahl et al Apr. 24, 1906 854,618 Alexander May 21, 1907 950,809 Sweet Mar. 1, 1910 1,792,513 Soreny, Feb. 17, 1931 1,864,200 Kaufman June 21, 1932- 1,919,257 Renzenhausen July 25, 1933 1,936,526 Seidel Nov. 21, 1933 2,103,687 McKenney Dec. 28, 1937 2,153,156 Pollnow Apr. 4, 1939 2,294,236 Levernier Aug. 25, 1942 2,311,624 Bobrick Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 509,302 Germany Oct. 8, 1930 

